Robert Downey Jr presents 3D-printed bionic Iron Man arm to 7-year-old

13 Mar 2015

Robert Downey Jr and Alex Pring. Photo via YouTube

A 7-year-old boy born without most of his right arm has been presented with a 3D-printed bionic Iron Man limb by none other than Tony Stark himself, actor Robert Downey Jr.

Having already built a working robotic arm for young Alex Pring last year, engineer Albert Manero teamed-up with RDJ for the surprise presentation, which saw the movie star staying in character throughout as he complimented Alex on his bow tie and even strapped on his own Iron Man arm.

“Had the absolute privilege of presenting a brand spanking new 3D-printed bionic Iron Man arm to Alex, the most dapper 7-year-old I’ve ever met,” Downey Jr wrote on his Facebook page.

Manero is the founder of Limbitless Solutions, a non-profit made up of engineering students from the University of Central Florida. Having met Alex and his family in June of last year, Manero and his team built a first working arm in 8 weeks.

Prior to meeting the real Iron Man, Alex has also had the opportunity to shake robotic arms with Transformers leader Optimus Prime at Universal Studios.

Click below to see what happened when Alex met Tony Stark.

Dean Van Nguyen was a contributor to Silicon Republic

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